A bit of a curate's egg of a performance from Tottenham last night. For those of you who haven't heard the term before, it can be basically explained as something that is both good and bad in parts, but as a result is entirely spoiled. No biased refereeing to blame it on this time, just the fact that United's weakened team was much stronger than our weakened team. We had our moments, defended strongly in the first half and hit the post in the second. If Lennon had picked out Van der Vaart instead of dallying on the ball we may have gone into the final half hour a goal up. We didn't and once United scored, they pulled away like an Aston Martin at the lights, as the Tottenham Ford Sierra jolted and stalled. Bottom of the table, 0 points 1 game, Redknapp out etc etc. To the ratings:
Friedel - 8
Bit of a surprise starter seeing as our Brazilian loon started at Tynecastle in mid-week. But Big Brad was probably our stand-out performer, making a string of top quality saves (the worldie from Cleverley's low drive being the highlight) and generally looking calm and assured. It's nice not to have your heart in your mouth every time a corner is whipped into the vicinity of the goalkeeper. The Sky microphones also picked up the constant stream of communication from Friedel to his defence. Promising start.
Walker - 6
A couple of bright forays forward in the first half before sickness cut his night short. I get the feeling that weaker teams in the Premiership will be tortured by this boy, but in a game where he has to do more defending than attacking, his weaknesses are a bit more apparent. Gave Young too much room and respect and was caught out of position more than once.
Dawson - 6
As usual, solid and no nonsense. We know he's a bit slow on the turn and although I rate Dawson as one of the best around, I can't help get that nagging feeling that he continues to struggle against the very best strikers in the league.
Kaboul - 7
Excellent in the first half, struggled a bit more (as they all did) in the second. I really like Kaboul as a player and think he's an automatic starter these days. He has all the physical attributes to be one of the best around and once he irons out the occasional lapses in concentration, he'll be a formidable obstacle. Could easily have been sent off for leaning his head into Nani. How stupid can you get? Got sent off against Newcastle for doing exactly the same thing to Tiote.
BAE - 7
I love Benny. So cool he could play the game with a fag in his mouth. Even against a flowing United attack he never looks ruffled and only goes route one as a last resort. Not his greatest display, but he hardly puts a foot wrong these days.
Lennon - 5
He's lost his mojo. Rather oddly, Evra really seems to struggle against Lennon but even with this in mind, he still seems reluctant to take on the full back on the outside and put balls in the box. His glorious chance to set up Rafa in the second half summed up his terrible decision making.
Kranjcar - 5
Plenty of nice touches and intelligent passing but he's not a central midfield and is certainly too much of a luxury to play there against United. Lacked the basic mobility and work rate to compete last night, leaving Livermore with far too much to do. I like Kranjcar and I hope he stays but his cameos in central midfield should be reserved for games against pub teams like Hearts.
Livermore - 6
Worked hard (he bloody had to), did the basics and you can't ask for much more from the lad on a debut at Old Trafford. Left exposed by Kranjcar and unsurprisingly struggled to pick up the movement of Anderson, Cleverley and Rooney. Heart says he has a big part to play this season, head is whispering that he may be a bit out of his depth. I hope I'm wrong.
Bale - 6
Made a couple of promising runs in the first half but faded into obscurity as the game went on. I know it's difficult to make a big impression on the game when United hold on possession so well but we need people like Bale to provide an outlet for a counter attack. Need to see more from him.
Van der Vaart - 7
Occasionally frustrating and perhaps a little too keen to take the 'shoot on sight' tactic literally, Rafa was still our most creative attacker last night. Linked well between the midfield and a lonely looking Defoe and worked De Gea more than anyone. Good to see him get 90 minutes and looking fitter than at any stage last season. Hopefully those niggling injuries are behind him.
Defoe - 6
Looked pretty sharp and like a man eager to impress. It was always going to be difficult playing alone up front against a team of United's quality. Caught in two minds a couple of times when in good positions and was very unlucky to hit the post late on. If that had gone on we'd be praising his predatory instincts.
Subs:
Corluka - 6
Did OK, solid and unspectacular as usual.
Huddlestone - 5
Clearly not fit. A passenger against the rampant United of the last 15 minutes. Certainly looked a mistake bringing him on.
Pav - 5
Was he on?
Deep down we all knew it was unlikely we would get anything from last night's game, especially without the likes of King, Sandro and Modric. 1-0 and I wouldn't have been too downhearted but 3-0 means our goal difference takes an early kicking and we sit bottom. The second leg at Hearts looks like good timing, hopefully serving as a nice morale booster against City. A win on Sunday and hopefully at least Diarra in (I doubt hugely that Adebayor will sign before Sunday, City won't let him make his debut against them), and things will start to look much healthier. It could be worse, we could be Arsenal!
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